Rifky Fachrizain
Rifky Fachrizain is an Indonesian GP4 OC driver currently under contract at Team RMG (BMW) in the 2016 DTM season. In addition to that he also won the 2010 GP2 OC title with a gap bigger than 60 points to his closest rival Franco Gamba. Widely acknowledged as one of GP4's top talents, Fachrizain earned praise for a series of defining drives in lower midfield teams. Debuting in 2009 for GP2 outfit DAMS, Fachrizain impressed with second place on his debut in Bahrain, consistent points and a further podium would follow this success as he earned a fifth place finish in the championship. Hopes were high the following season and he was tipped as a firm favourite for the title in 2010 with a move to Barwa Addax. The Indonesian did not disappoint, delivering the title by a record 65 points and taking 6 wins that season out of 12 races, a remarkable 50% win ratio for the season. This fine form and eventual championship earned him a chance on the big stage with Sauber in 2011. The new car was far from competitive, in testing the car was barely a midfield runner and the team were predicted to struggle. Fachrizain, however, thrived in the difficult runner. He scored points on his debut, joining a very select group of drivers to achieve this feat. Blighted by bad luck and a change of teammate after only 3 races, thanks to the acrimonious sacking of Rens Jans and subsequent replacement with the inexperienced Lucas Levi, Fachrizain would next score points 10 rounds later in Belgium. This began a good run of form which saw him comprehensively outperform his teammate. A fine fourth place in Abu Dhabi was the highlight of a season where the young Indonesian had illustrated good potential. Retained into 2012, Fachrizain had a new teammate as Levi was released at the end of 2011. Fiery Romanian, Robert Ionescu, proved a far greater challenge than his predecessor. Fachrizain failed to score in the opening 4 round but came close on a number of those occasions and had finished all four races whilst his teammate had finished only once in four. Points in Spain got his account off to a start. Further points in 3 consecutive races from Canada onwards, meant he was far ahead of his teammate at the halfway point of the season. A disastrous run of form, where he retired for 5 races straight, saw him lose ground as Ionescu found form. 2 brilliant drives in Korea and India offered a lot of respite, especially considering his drive in India resulted in his first top tier podium and Sauber's first podium since their days as partner to BMW. Despite this, he would lose out to a teammate for the first time in his career by a meagre 2 points. Nonetheless, his good form in 2012 was rewarded with a move to the far more competitive midfield team Force India. Partnering the equally highly rated Armar Cah, Fachrizain was in the form of his life. Good points finishes in the opening 9 rounds were blighted by a run of retirements from costly performances. In Hungary, Fachrizain finished third for his first Force India podium, this led to eventual Hungarian race winner, Will Neller, labelling him 'the hottest prospect in the top class of Motorsport.' This high praise coincided with a horrific run of bad luck as he retired from 6 races running from Hungary onwards, the term 'commentators curse' had never been so apt. Fachrizain pulled his form back for the final 3 races with good points finishes in all 3 closing rounds. Despite retiring from 11 of the 19 races that season, Fachrizain finished 11th overall and had almost double the points of his teammate Cah. 2013 had been a highly successful year, and 2014 promised to be better with a far more competitive package. Points in 4 of the opening 6 rounds, including another brilliant podium in Monaco led many to link the popular Indonesian with a move to a much stronger outfit for 2015. However, following the Belgian Grand Prix, Fachrizain announced his immediate retirement from GP4, citing irreconcilable personal difficulties as the main motivator for this shock decision. The decision was made with Fachrizain flying very high in the championship on 57 points, already more than he had scored the previous year at only the halfway point in the season. The decision sent shockwaves through the championship as many expected him to return for 2015, this did not come to fruition and, as of the 2016 season, Fachrizain's top class career abruptly ended after 70 races. Fachrizain did however, join DTM for 2016. He finished 5th on his debut in Hockenheim. GP4 GP2 OC Results GP4OC Results GP4 DTM OC Results Category:Drivers